First impression of the MK Panohead
had a professional look and clean
design. The red rotator base,
upper rotator and camera plate
complimented its overall look.

Shipment of the unit came
surprisingly quick considering being
shipped from Germany.

The size of the panohead is
comparable to its counterparts.

The MK Panohead comes with the
Manfrotto 300N panoramic head
rotator.

The 300N have selectable click-stops
that ranges from
4,6,8,10,12,15,18,24,36 and 72.

The rotator comes with a standard
3/8 bottom thread.

The base of the MK Panohead.

The bottom of the base uses a
standard 3/8" thread.
Various MK rotators may be used with
this head as an option.

Lower rail has demarcations for
simple adjustments of the vertical
rail.

The vertical rail knob is nice and
huge to easily tighten the entire
assembly.

The vertical rail has two guides
underneath that inserts within the
canal of the lower rail.

Notice the length of the vertical
knob's screw.

The upper rotator uses a small
handle to tighten and easily
loosened by flipping the arm.

The upper rotator has demaracations
marked every 15° -/+.

The upper rotator uses three ball
bearings, supported by springs, that
presses against the other half of
the assembly.

The click stops are every 15°.

The camera plate has a rubber base
where the camera would sit.
The red area is a "raised" area that
matches the height of the rubber
base.

Behind the upper rail there are
demarcations. There is a white
line behind the camera plate for
alignment with the upper rail.

Precision

"Simply... Precise."

The following techniques used to
measure precision are simple using
ordinary measuring tools.
Meant for the non-engineer types
like myself to perform.

How accurate are the markings?.
Well I just had to find out.

Demarcations of the upper rotator
was transferred to a sheet of paper
and marked out every 45°.

Lines were then drawn from each mark
and extended to the opposite mark.

Used a protractor to test -
Perfect.

Lower Rail - Perfect.

Upper rotator demarcations -
Perfect.

Vertical arm 90° alignment -
Perfect.

(Yellow tape was used for
visibility.)

Upper rail level test - Perfect.

Lower rail level and
Rotation level test - Perfect.

The rotation level test is probably
what many photographers look for.
Although not necessary with today's
software it's still good to have.

Observations

A
small detail I noticed was with the
camera plate at it's furthest
position. The camera plate
knob would hit the bottom assembly
of the vertical rail. Of
course this would only occur if you
needed to set your camera at the
furthest upper rail position.

Although the lower rail's
demarcation starts at 30mm it's
actually 50mm from the axis.

The upper rail's start of 60mm is
actual distance from the upper
rotator's axis.

There is currently no bubble level
on the MK Panohead. With the
setup shown I'm using the Manfrotto
338 leveler.

The MK Panohead was designed with
the vertical rail to the right (if
you were facing the camera lens).

Depending what you're use to you can
switch it over to the other side.
The only draw back is everything is
upside down.

These pano heads can be used
with the lens/camera combination
shown previously.

Every part can
be replaced for maintenance if
necessary.

Conclusion

The new MK
Panohead by Marc Kairies is a recent entry into to the panoramic
scene. It is made in Germany.

A brief history
of Marc Kairies; he worked from 1996 to 1998 at Kamera Werke Noble
in Dresden that was well known for the Noblex cameras. In 1998 he
started with the distribution of the Roundshot cameras in Germany.
Panorama systems such as the Roundshotand
MK Panomachine . MK Panoramas Systeme was borm.

It’s clear that Marc Kairies
has entered competition with the rest of
the panoramic head manufacturers.

Pros

First impression of
the MK Panohead was that it has a clean and professional look;
almost too simple. At the same time it’s almost like a “work of
art”. I love the red accent colors added to the rotators and camera
plate. But underneath all the simplicity and beauty is precision
engineering.

Every component
aligns and assembles together without any play that may compromise a
panorama. As you’ve seen above no corners were cut with the
demarcations on the rails and upper rotator, 90° alignment and
levelness assuring a consistent panorama each time.

It is solid and
weighs 2.3 lbs. It does not feel “light-weight” or “cheap”. With
its solid rails this panohead can easily handle various heavy camera
body and lens combination. I tested the load capacity with a
70-200mm lens. This head can handle pro bodies such as the Nikon
D3, Canon 1Ds MkIII and medium format cameras with digital backs.

A
key feature of the MK Panohead is the bundled Manfrotto 300N.
A proven panoramic rotator head. It's selectable "on the fly"
click stops is nice to have. The click stops can also be
disabled for manual rotations.

One thing I should
point out are the corners of the rails. It does not have sharp
edges. They’ve been rounded off for safe handling of the
equipment.

On my initial
panoramic test I already knew the panohead can shoot panos without a
problem. Most heads at this level can without too much “glitch”.
What I was mostly concerned about can the panohead be configured for
my nadir long exposure technique? I was delighted to realize that
it could.

Another test that I
was pleased about was the rotation-level test. As shown with the
image above you can clearly see the head stayed leveled through the
360° rotation. This may seem unimportant to most as most rely on
software for image correction. My personal belief is why have extra
post-production work?

Cons

There is no bubble level on
either the panohead or the 300N. So I had to use the Manfrotto
338.

Another feature I was
looking for was a rail-stop or position-marker on the rails. The MK
Panohead does not have any.

Currently there is
no manual for the MK Panohead; none also on their web site. They
are working on it as this review was being written.

No bundled
accessory with the panohead such as spare parts, tools, etc.
Leather hand made cases are currently being made. I'm not sure
if it will be bundled.

There are no
recommended camera and lens settings available for the panohead.
Assuming that it’s for the experienced panographer, camera settings
would not be necessary. So it is wise to know how to find the
entrance pupil for your specific camera body and lens combination.
Given the variety of camera bodies and lens it is very difficult for
a panohead manufacturer to provide such overwhelming information.

In closing the MK
Panohead comes with a two year manufacturer’s warranty. On their
web site accessories for the MK Panohead are available such as a hot
shoe bubble, quick release plates, remote camera triggers, motorized
base, etc. just to name a few. New rotators are currently being developed for their MK panohead line

I gave the MK
Panohead an overall score of 9 out of 10. Definitely a
competitive panohead.

The rest of its
shortcomings are minor and a remedy can easily be implemented by the
manufacturer.